Department for Education

Department for Education: Finance

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many complaints her Department has received on related-party transactions in each of the last five years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry, but we are unable to provide this information other than at disproportionate cost.

Pupils: Bullying

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to tackle bullying in schools on the basis of (a) gender, (b) sexuality, (c) gender identity and (d) gender expression.

Nick Gibb: The Government is clear that all forms of bullying, for whatever reason, is unacceptable and should not be tolerated in our schools.All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent bullying among pupils. Schools develop their own anti-bullying strategies and are held to account for their effectiveness through Ofsted.The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies, including schools, to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equalities Act. Public sector bodies must also advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.In response to the Women and Equalities Select Committee inquiry into sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools, we have collected additional data on different types of bullying through pupil, parent and teacher voice surveys. The ‘Pupils and their parents or carers omnibus survey wave 2’ and ‘Teacher voice omnibus: November 2016 survey’ results were published in July 2017. They can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-and-their-parents-or-carers-omnibus-wave-1-survey.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-voice-omnibus-november-2016-survey-dfe-questions.We have also published updated bullying guidance for schools, which makes it clear that incidents of sexual harassment should be covered by school bullying policies.The Department acknowledges that individuals who are, or perceived to be, LGBT, are disproportionately affected by bullying. Bullying can have a negative effect on individuals, blighting their education and damaging their mental health.In September 2016, the Government Equalities Office announced a £3.0 million programme from 2016-2019 to prevent and address homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in a sustainable way. This programme focuses on primary and secondary schools in England which currently have no, or ineffective, measures in place.Additionally, the Government is also talking directly to young people to challenge attitudes about abuse and consent. This year the Home Office launched the third phase of their campaign ‘Disrespect NoBody’, which aims to prevent the onset of domestic violence in adults by challenging attitudes and behaviour amongst teenage boys and girls and which emphasises that abuse in relationships is unacceptable.

Special Guardianship Orders

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding available to those caring for children under special guardianship orders.

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to increase funding for those caring for children under special guardianship orders.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We have not assessed the adequacy of funding for those caring for children under special guardianship orders and have no plans to increase funding as these are matters for local authorities. They have a clear legal duty to carry out an assessment and make arrangements for the provision of special guardianship support services. Since April 2016 previously looked after children and their special guardians have had access to the Adoption Support Fund. The Fund pays for therapeutic services designed to help children recover from their previous experiences and bond with their new families. The Welsh Government determines arrangements for the provision of special guardianship support services in Wales, including financial support.

Schools: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Oral Statement of 17 July 2017, Official Report, column 565, what savings will be made from healthy pupils capital to increase core schools funding in 2019-20.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The healthy pupils capital fund is one year funding and will be delivered in 2018-19 only.

Social Mobility

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 38 of the Social Mobility Commission's report, Time for Change: an assessment of government policies on social mobility 1997-2017, published on 28 June 2017, what assessment she has made of the effect of social geographic isolation on social mobility.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 38 of the Social Mobility Commission Report, Time for Change: an assessment of government policies on social mobility 1997-2017, what assessment she has made of the effect of (a) economic and (b) geographic isolation on social mobility.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Tackling social mobility is at the heart of the government’s ambition to make Britain a country that works for everyone.We recognise that where you are born, and the circumstances into which you are born, can still too often determine where you get to in life. In some parts of the country, there is entrenched disadvantage, with less access to good school places or employment opportunities. This can act as barriers to social mobility.But we are not prepared to accept Britain as it has been. That is why last year we launched our £72 million Opportunity Areas programme, which brings together local businesses, schools and councils in 12 social mobility ‘coldspots’ across the country to create better opportunities for the children, young people and adults who live there, and to learn lessons about what works in these areas.

Children: Day Care

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 24 of the Social Mobility Commission's report, Time for Change: an assessment of government policies on social mobility 1997-2017, published on 28 June 2017, what steps she is taking to ensure the provision of quality childcare places when the free childcare entitlement increases to 30 hours per week.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The government is fully committed to delivering flexible and high quality childcare which meets the needs of working parents and supports the best outcomes for children. That is why all providers offering the extended funded entitlement will have to be registered with Ofsted and follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.We have set out in statutory guidance that, as far as possible, funded places should be delivered by providers who have achieved an overall rating of ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ in their most recent Ofsted inspection report. As the Social Mobility Commission report notes, the proportion of providers rated “outstanding” or “good” has risen steadily and the latest figures from Ofsted show that 93% of providers had achieved these top ratings as at 31 March 2017, giving a good supply of eligible providers.

Children: Day Care

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 23 of the Social Mobility Commission's report, Time for Change: an assessment of government policies on social mobility 1997-2017, published on 28 June 2017, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the relatively low demand for subsidised childcare among the most disadvantaged families.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Currently, 71% of disadvantaged two year olds are accessing government funded early education. This has increased by 13 percentage points from 2015. The Department’s Childcare and Early Years survey provides provide salient, up-to-date information on parents’ use of childcare and early years provision. It provides a range of reasons why families in some local authorities may choose not to access formal childcare. These include the age of the child – 58% of parents of 0-2 year olds felt their child was too young for early education. The Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents-2014-to-2015. The Government is committed to supporting disadvantaged children through the 2-year-old entitlement and the Early Years Pupil Premium.

Females: Sports

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure girls are encouraged into sport.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The government wants all pupils to be healthy and active and to have the opportunity to engage in sport and physical activity from a young age. That is why PE remains a compulsory subject at all four key stages in the national curriculum, and why since 2013 we have provided over £600m of ring-fenced funding to primary schools to improve their PE and sport provision. We know that this funding is making a big difference, with 84% of schools reporting an increase in the levels of participation in extra-curricular activities. We encourage schools to use their funding to support more pupils to take up sport, and many schools use their funding to target specific groups, including girls and the least active. Across government, we continue to work to promote women’s sport. Sport England funds a number of programmes to encourage girls and women to get physically active, including ‘This Girl Can’ and ‘Girls Active’. To help further increase participation rates, we are also using revenue from the soft drinks industry levy to double the primary PE and sport premium to £320 million a year from September 2017.

Child Minding

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of families unable to access 30 hours free childcare allowance as their chosen registered childminder is a relative.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Childminders cannot receive entitlement funding for related children because legislation excludes care by a relative from the definition of ‘childcare’.Although parents cannot claim their entitlements through related childminders, they can find details of providers that offer the entitlement in the local area through local authorities’ family information services.

Pupil Premium

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many three and four-year olds benefited from the early years pupil premium in (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2015-16.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The number of 3- and 4-year-old children claiming the early years pupil premium in 2017 is available within Table 14LA on the Department’s website athttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/education-provision-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2017.The number of 3- and 4-year-old children claiming the early years pupil premium in 2016 is available within Table 18LA on the Department’s website athttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/education-provision-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2016.

Pre-school Education

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the take-up rate for early education entitlement in 2016 was for eligible (a) two and (b) three and four-year olds.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The proportion of two, three- and four-year-olds accessing funded early years education in 2016, is available within Table 1 and 2 on the Department’s website athttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/education-provision-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2017.

Pupil Premium

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total expenditure on the early years pupil premium was in (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2015-16.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Early years pupil premium funding for all local authorities in England and in total can be found within the dedicated schools grant tables at the links below: 2016-17:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2016-to-2017.2015-16:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2015-to-2016.

Department for Education: Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of consultancy assignments procured by her Department are paid at a daily rate.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry, but we are unable to provide that information other than at disproportionate cost.

Department for Education: Arms Length External Organisations

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of new arms-length bodies her Department plans to establish once the UK has left the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department for Education has no plans to establish any new arms-length bodies once the UK has left the EU.

Children: Social Services

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authority children's services departments are rated as inadequate by Ofsted; and how long each of those establishments has been issued with that grade.

Mr Robert Goodwill: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to you and a copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

Women and Equalities

Migrant Workers: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has received evidence of an increase in discrimination against non-UK EU nationals seeking employment because of uncertainty on the future status of such nationals in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The United Kingdom has a proud record of promoting equality and some of the strongest laws in the world to prevent and tackle discrimination. We will continue to make sure that these rights are protected.The Government Equalities Office (GEO) is aware of, and is looking into, the reports of discrimination against non-UK EU nationals seeking employment which the hon Member has recently forwarded to the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU. The GEO sponsors the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which has powers to enforce the Equality Act 2010 in cases where it suspects unlawful discrimination in employment may have occurred.Anyone who believes that they have experienced unlawful discrimination when seeking employment or when receiving goods or services, should seek advice and support from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461.Additionally, they can also contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service: https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com.